Bamboo has become an increasingly popular industrial material. Bamboo is a material from the grass family. Its root system, which grows far below the surface and produces new shoots each season, allows for the plant to re-grow itself each season. Bamboo can be used for building materials, etc., and may be harvested every five to six years. A new bamboo shoot can reach its full mature size in a single season, making it a highly sustainable and therefore desirable material. Bamboo is also recyclable which also adds to its desirability as an industrial material.
Because bamboo is a sturdy and durable grass, bamboo can be used for a number of products including laminate flooring as a substitute for conventional hardwood materials and other materials that are more limited in their availability, sustainability, and/or recyclability.
Conventional materials used for cards, such as transaction cards, including, but not limited to credit cards, debit cards, stored-value cards, gift cards, loyalty or reward cards, smart cards, phone cards and the like, and identification cards, such as drivers licenses, passports, business cards, access badges, and the like, are often made from durable plastics such as polyvinylchloride (PVC) or styrene. While one can create aesthetically unique cards using these traditional materials, these materials are often not recyclable and/or not made from sustainable resources, putting unnecessary stresses on the environment, such as landfill use (when the cards are discarded after use, e.g. sometimes only single use), and use of limited and/or harmful natural resources, such as petroleum oil used to make plastics.
There remains a need for an aesthetically unique card, manufactured from a durable yet sustainable material.